BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Challengers Stage

NIP close in on Legends Stage berth as 1-1 pool concludes

9-5-2023 14:03

Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen and company bested OG despite initially staring down the barrel of a 4-11 deficit.

Ninjas in Pyjamas are one best-of-three away from advancing to the BLAST.tv Paris Major Legends Stage after moving past OG in a scrappy overtime affair on Mirage (19-17), formally rounding out the Challengers Stage's 1-1 pool in France.

Competition in Paris now turns exclusively towards best-of-threes for the remainder of the opening phase. Two teams will earn a Legends Stage spot by the end of Wednesday, whilst two squads will be eliminated and have their Major runs cut short.

NIP are one best-of-three away from a spot in the Legends Stage

The highlight matchup of the 1-1 pool was a battle between OG and Ninjas in Pyjamas on Mirage, with the two top-15 teams last playing each other on LAN at ESL Pro League Season 17 in March, where the Nordic mix came out ahead.

The Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen-led roster initially came out swinging in the best-of-one and built a comfortable 11-4 lead on the T-side by the turn of the half. Things soon went awry, however, as Aleksib's troops returned the favor to force a trip to overtime.

The scrappy nature continued even as the game entered extra rounds, but it was the Ninjas who prevailed, 19-17; a 30-bomb by Fredrik "⁠REZ⁠" Sterner being key in sending OG down to the 1-2 pool in Paris.

Grayhound staved off a trip down to elimination territory after besting The MongolZ 16-10 on Nuke, a rematch from their Major-qualifying fixture at the RMR in Mongolia. The Australian roster owe a large amount of their thanks to Joshua "⁠INS⁠" Potter, who put up a monstrous 31-15, 1.90-rated performance over the map, enough to allow his side to be one BO3 away from advancing to the Legends Stage.

Complexity will look to rebound in time for their next outing on Wednesday after suffering a trouncing at the hands of paiN on Nuke. The North American and Brazilian rosters entered the server just one place apart on the world ranking, but Rodrigo "⁠biguzera⁠" Bittencourt's men were by far the better team; Johnny "⁠JT⁠" Theodosiou and company mustered just four rounds before being sent down to the 1-2 pool in France.

In similar fashion, Monte also underperformed in their 1-1 battle on Ancient versus FORZE. The Ukrainian-majority roster had pushed FaZe to the limit on that very same map (14-16) on the opening day, but looked discombobulated versus the Russians, who wasted no time in putting up a commanding 16-9 victory to be within touching distance of a Legends Stage berth.

The second day of the Major in Paris will continue shortly with four games set to determine the first Legends Stage-bound teams and those who will be eliminated entirely. Those matchups are as follows:

2-0 pool